GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt with

Anything to do with Port.
Post Reply
User avatar
differentdave
Fonseca LBV
Posts: 143
Joined: 18:38 Mon 25 Feb 2008
Location: Long Island, New York

GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt with

Post by differentdave »

Please tell me if I am wrong or of this is not the wackiest of transactions ever!
On 12/10 I placed an order with GrandVinWineMerchants
Order was for 2x 2011 Fonseca, 1x 2011 Grahams, 1x 2011 Taylor and 1x 2011 Warres (5 bottles total)
On 12/17 (week later they did not ship or process order but whatever fine with that) Got an email saying we may have shipped you the wrong wines.
On 12/23 I received the wine 4x Fonseca, 1x Grahams and 1x Taylor (6 bottle total no Warres)
I asked GrandVinWineMerchants to add up cost of shipping me warres, cost of shipping them the 2 fonsecas and the cost of the bottle of warres and deduct that from cost of the two fonsecas to save them all the shipping and I would keep the extra fonsecas I did not order. They run the math but charged my credit card the amount of the 2 fonsecas minus the 1 Warres. They thanked me for saving them the shipping but didn’t feel like they had to pass the savings along to me. Furthermore they mentioned I saved on the initial shipping since I paid to ship 5 bottles not 6 bottles.
They will now be shipping me my warres. They will have to figure out how to package and ship the two bottles of fonseca which I will be leaving on my front porch for them to deal with as I feel I bent over backwards for their mistakes and they really treated me poorly.
Although they had competivie prices, there shipping and customer services makes them go on my blacklist. Buyer beware with GrandVinWineMerchants ladies and gentleman.
Glenn E.
Graham’s 1977
Posts: 4186
Joined: 22:27 Wed 09 Jul 2008
Location: Seattle, WA, USA

Re: GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt w

Post by Glenn E. »

Contest the credit card charge. You did not authorize that charge - you authorized a different one. If they were unsatisfied with the deal you proposed they should have resumed negotiation with you.
Glenn Elliott
User avatar
DRT
Fonseca 1966
Posts: 15779
Joined: 23:51 Wed 20 Jun 2007
Location: Chesterfield, UK
Contact:

Re: GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt w

Post by DRT »

It is sad but true that you get what you pay for in life. Things that initially look like great value often come with an unseen cost, which in this case was incompetence.

I hope you manage to get things put right.
"The first duty of Port is to be red"
Ernest H. Cockburn
Andy Velebil
Quinta do Vesuvio 1994
Posts: 3030
Joined: 22:16 Mon 25 Jun 2007
Location: Los Angeles, Ca USA
Contact:

Re: GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt w

Post by Andy Velebil »

David,
Mistakes happen, they notified you before the wines even arrived of a mistake, there is no costs for you to ship back the 2 Fonseca's as you decided on keeping them, at least at first. However, if you decide not to keep the extra Fonseca they can send a pre-paid shipping invoice, so no cost to you. Obvisouly, you decided you wanted the Warre's as well and they sent it to you. And you've decided not to keep the Fonseca's after all. You seem to want some financial compensation for what appears to be a simple mistake, to which they notified you before the package arrived. You've posted this same thing on at least 3 wine forums. Obviously your intentions are to smear this retailer. And I fail to see how this mistake warrants the smear campaign you're trying to start.

Cross posted from :ftlop2014:
User avatar
RAYC
Taylor Quinta de Vargellas 1987
Posts: 2060
Joined: 23:50 Tue 04 May 2010
Location: London

Re: GrandVinWineMerchants mybe worst retailer I have dealt w

Post by RAYC »

If i understand your post correctly:

- in order to save on admin on both sides, you were happy to keep the extra Fonsecas and cancel the order for the Warre 2011. You expected to pay the price for the Fonsecas - but offset against (i) the costs of the extra shipping that would be involved in rectifying their mistake and (ii) the cost of the Warre which you had already paid for (but did not receive). This seems like a reasonable proposal to me (cost neutral for them and saves on staff time plus concerns they may have about the condition of returned stock, a small benefit for you in return for not getting quite what you had ordered).

- instead they are have charged your card the full price for the Fonsecas, less the cost of the Warre, and said that it's a good deal for you because you've saved on some shipping.

I'm not clear why the Warre 2011 is now being sent to you. Presumably once you discovered what they'd done, you said that you wanted to revert to your original order, get your card refunded, and make them eat the extra shipping charges?

In any event, it's never ok to charge your card for an amount to which you had not given consent (even if it is only $10-20 extra), and they should certainly have contacted you to say that they were not willing to accept your proposal before doing so. However, leaving the bottles on the front porch rather than following their instructions on how to ship back is not likely to help your position.

Similar post cross-posted on FTLOP
Rob C.
Post Reply